Boiled Linseed Oil finish still feels greasy

[Craigus]

Hi

I made a simple plywood box and finished it with Boiled Linseed Oil. It has been sat for over a week now and still feels greasy or oily and my hands look shiny after I rub it.

I've done lots of searching around online for answers on this and it seems most people say it has been put on too thick and the excess needs to be wiped off. But I put on quite a thin layer, and left it for a while the wiped off the excess.

Why might it still feel like this? Could it be because it was quite cheap?

 

[JohnPW]

Unless there's something wrong with the oil, it sounds like there's a layer of oil on top of the wood surface. When you wipe off, you should wipe it like you're wiping it all off, ie all of the oil should soak into the wood and there's no oil floating on the surface.

 

[Racers]

Wipe it over with a cloth dampened white spirit to remove the excess.

Are sure its boiled not raw linseed oil?

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Raw is better for finishing but takes longer to dry. Either way - needs to be wiped on thin and surplus rubbed off. Several very thin layers better than fewer thick ones, though you can leave the first one thickish to see if it'll soak in, but wipe off surplus same day.

 

[geordie]

Its posssible the ply had some sort of finish already on it stopping the oil for soaking in


Geordie

 

[AndyT]

If you are doing the job out in a cold shed or garage, it will take a lot longer to cure. Bring it indoors and try in the warm.

 

[PAC1]

Just a guess but it could be the top layer of ply is saturated as the oil cannot penetrate the lower layers because of the glue. I think putting it somewhere warm will help. The next drastic action would be to wipe over with meths to remove the excess. But that will raise the grain and need refinishing